2013/2014
KAN-AEF_AE40 Firm Theory and Corporate Governance
| English Title |
| Firm Theory and Corporate
Governance |
|
|
| Language |
English |
| Exam ECTS |
7.5 ECTS |
| Type |
Mandatory |
| Level |
Full Degree Master |
| Duration |
One Semester |
| Course period |
Spring |
| Time Table |
Please see course schedule at e-Campus |
| Study board |
Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business
Administration
|
| Course
coordinator |
- Aleksandra Gregoric - Department of International Economics and
Management (INT)
|
| Main academic
disciplines |
- Economics, macro economics and managerial
economics
|
|
Last updated on
02-07-2013
|
| Learning objectives |
Corporate governance deals with how
firms are organized and, in particular, with the relationship
between owners, managers and other stakeholders in a corporation.
The main objective of this course is to equip students with a
knowledge base in order for them to be able to understand and
participate in the general decision making concerning governance
activities in a corporation.
Upon completion of the course the students should be able to:
- Discuss the concepts of incomplete contracts, moral hazard,
asymmetry of information etc. and critically analyse the agency
issues in private corporations.
- Identify the relevance of corporate laws in mitigating the
agency problems in the corporations.
- Identify the benefits and downsides associated with various
types of structures, such as corporations with concentrated
ownership, family firms, etc. and critically assess the specifics
of these governance structures in comparison to firms with
dispersed ownership and control.
- Identify the opportunities and potential pitfalls in the use of
incentive based remuneration as a tool to motivate managers and to
critically assess the efficiency of various incentive schemes.
- Critically assess the structure of corporate boards and discuss
its implications for board behaviour and firm performance.
- Identify and elaborate on the main barriers to efficient
functioning of the board of directors and other corporate
governance mechanisms (i.e. incentives, large owners, legal rules
etc.).
- Critically discuss the influence/role of other stakeholders
(i.e. Government, employees) in firm governance and its
implications for the decision –making in private corporations.
- Compare and evaluate the specifics of the corporate governance
systems across the world, to critically assess selected elements of
governance codes, and to be able to apply these recommendations and
the acquired knowledge of corporate governance to real world
cases.
|
| Prerequisites for registering for the
exam |
|
Compulsory assignments
(assessed approved/not approved)
Three compulsory case preparations during the course on a
pass/fail basis. All three case preparations must be passed prior
to the registration for the 4-hour written exam.
|
| Examination |
|
Firm Theory
and Corporate Governance:
|
| Examination form |
Written sit-in exam |
| Individual or group exam |
Individual |
| Assignment type |
Case based assignment |
| Duration |
4 hours |
| Grading scale |
7-step scale |
| Examiner(s) |
One internal examiner |
| Exam period |
April and May/June, The retake will take place in
June. |
| Aids allowed to bring to the exam |
Limited aids, see the list below and the exam
plan/guidelines for further information:
- Allowed calculators
- Allowed dictionaries
|
| Make-up exam/re-exam |
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If the number of registered candidates for the make-up
examination/re-take examination warrants that it may most
appropriately be held as an oral examination, the programme office
will inform the students that the make-up examination/re-take
examination will be held as an oral examination
instead.
|
Description of the exam
procedure
The exam has the form of three
compulsory case preparations during the course on a pass/fail basis
and an individual 4-hour written closed book exam with a case
analysis starting two days before the exam date.
Language dictionaries and authorized calculators (Texas Instruments
TI-30X IIS (solar), Texas Instruments TI-30X IIB (battery), TI-30X
IIS/IIB, TI-30XS MultiView and TI-30XB MultiView) are allowed at
the exam.
|
|
| Course content and
structure |
|
An applied case-based economics course. It complements the
courses Corporate Finance and Industrial Organization.
The course is a topic course, covering topical issues in corporate
governance. We begin with a general introduction to agency problems
in modern corporations and proceed to analyse governance solutions
to these problems. We start by discussing the incentives and
current issues in the executive compensation. We then continue with
the ownership structure and the role of owners in firm governance,
and give special attention to family firms. We also analyse how the
legal framework facilitates and supports the functioning of the
firms and the other governance mechanisms. We next look at the
board of directors and discuss how it changes with the life cycle
of the firm. We conclude by an introduction to the recent findings
in the field of behavioral economics with specific focus on their
relevance for organizations and governance.
|
| Teaching methods |
The format of the course is based on
three elements:
1. Case analysis (i.e. in groups you will solve and present four
business cases).
2. Lectures and discussion on the newest relevant research in
corporate governance.
3. Guest lectures by representatives of business
community. |
| Expected literature |
|
Preliminary literature.
Collection of cases and articles on corporate
governance.
|
Last updated on
02-07-2013
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